Long story short

Our opinion: We weigh in briefly on problem gambling, allegations of CIA spying on Congress, and a new direction for Albany County Executive Dan McCoy.

Right way to start

For once, someone has put the horse before the cart: Before deciding where to put casinos in upstate New York, the state Gaming Commission is already planning how to deal with a likely increase in problem gambling.

It’s an admirable start for commission chairman Mark Gearan to identify the need to be proactive when it comes to gambling addiction, before deciding where to site new casinos. In the run-up to last year’s referendum that legalized casinos in New York, opponents cited problem gambling as a key concern.

Now experts will be tapped to help put what needs to be an effective preventive program in place, long before the first roll of the dice.

Spies will be spies

The CIA has offended one of its biggest, longtime supporters on Capitol Hill.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein went public last week with stunning allegations — that the CIA secretly accessed and deleted documents from computers used by her committee to review the agency’s records on interrogations. CIA Director John Brennan disputes this.

But after all the revelations about the U.S. government spying on its own citizens, and Ms. Feinstein’s defense of the practices, what’s most surprising here is her own surprise. Perhaps she’ll see it’s possible the intelligence community is out of control.

Mr. McCoy’s good year

If one word could capture the essence of Albany County Executive Daniel McCoy’s accomplishments last year, it could well be partnerships.

In his third annual State of the County address on Monday, Mr. McCoy talked of the county’s roles in theAlbany Capital Center and DeWitt Clinton Hotel project; the redevelopment of the Wellington Row and the new Albany Extension of Schenectady County Community College.

He also cited efforts to protect residents in the controversial plan to process crude oil at the Port of Albany. He put the project on hold to let the county health department review Global Partners’ plan for Bakken crude oil brought in by rail cars through Albany neighborhoods.

If his quick action on this issue is any indication, next year’s word defining Mr. McCoy could be responsiveness.